Jürgen Klopp met with the media ahead of Liverpool's big game at Brighton. The boss admits this is a pivotal match as the two sides are only separated by a point in the standings but also adds that every game is important. He also discussed Mohamed Salah's pending 300th game of English Football, along with the areas the team needs to improve.
When most people visit the South Coast of England, it's for a Holiday. Not for Liverpool. They have a job to do as it is vital that the club picks up all 3 points.
“All the games are really important and it's a very, very important game for us for different reasons,” Klopp said. “They are full of confidence. We saw the Arsenal game when they lost 4-2, it was a top game. I think they had 67 per cent possession or something like that. Arsenal scored three counter-attacking goals. The pitch at Brighton, on top of that, is a little bit, not bigger, but at least wider and so there's a lot of space to cover and to defend as well. It's a tough one but I'm really looking forward to it because we had a good week. I hope the players who were available during the week at least will stay available and then we are ready for a fight.”
It seems as if the Egyptian King makes history every time he steps on the pitch. This time it is for playing his 300th game of English Football. If he scores, Salah will also become the Reds' all-time leading scorer away from Anfield. He is currently tied with Michael Owen at 55.
“A few things happened in between. What a journey!,” Klopp said. “I would say his dreams and our dreams came true in that period but it's not over yet. Mo looks sharp, he's fit still after all these years, after all these games and that's very important. The most important thing is that he's really available pretty much always. But that means, of course, if you have to play that amount of games sometimes your performance drops here or there, but it doesn't happen too often.”
With Liverpool's position on the table, it's no secret that the Reds have plenty of areas in which to improve. Klopp addressed a few specifically that would not only help in this game. but for the rest of the season as well.
“This week was really good and obviously we put a finger on that,” he said. “I want to win the ball in these moments, so not knocking down somebody down – that's very important. The way we play, and it's ball-orientated defending, I think that's no secret. That means whoever has the ball on the pitch he should face one in an ideal world, two in a perfect world, three players... one has to challenge, win it or lose, but if you lose then the next one is there, picks the ball up and we go from there. So, I've explained it in a very simple way, but that's how it is.”
Klopp knows that facing the Seagulls will be no day at the beach and he expressed praise for their play. He also knows that Liverpool have plenty of deficiencies that need to be improved. It's nice to see a manager not shy away from or downplay the issues his club has while also acknowledging the tremendous talent of players, such as Mo Salah. Being able to strike that balance is what makes Klopp one of the best managers in European Football.
You can watch the full press conference by clicking here via the official LFC Youtube Channel.
